In modern warfare, ground forces in need of fire support or reinforcements often need to communicate accurate target coordinates and/or clear spatial references, for example to a remote surveillance or weapon platform. Conventional methods of generating and communicating spatial references needed to call for fire in open battlefields, such as target surveying, reading map coordinates, and laser target designation, are often not well-suited for use by small units on patrol in urban or other complex environments.
Ground troops engaged in an urban conflict are often disoriented, lack sophisticated equipment, or have unreliable radio frequency (RF) communication capability. A complicating factor in urban warfare is often the presence of infrastructure that can block transmissions, limit fields of view, and/or provide concealment and cover for enemy combatants. The infrastructure of a city typically includes tall buildings, narrow alleys, sewage tunnels, and possibly a subway or other transit system. The buildings can provide excellent sniping posts, while alleys and rubble-filled streets are well suited for planting booby traps. Additionally, defenders may have the advantage of detailed local knowledge of the area, layout of building interiors, and means of travel not shown on maps, allowing the defenders to move from one part of the city to another undetected. The attackers, however, must often move through open streets, particularly during a house to house search, which can expose the attacker on the streets.
Typically, when conducting operations in urban environments, ground forces calling for support need to clearly transmit verbal instructions over an RF communication system to identify prominent structures and other landmarks, and/or provide aim point corrections to improve the accuracy of remote ordnance. For close air support (CAS) operations, detailed target description information is usually transmitted verbally. Such conventional methods of spatial referencing, however, are frequently ambiguous, inaccurate, and frustratingly slow. Moreover, verbal communications from a dismounted soldier received at a remote platform are subject to miscommunication, for example due to noise from gunfire, garbled transmissions, and the like. In general, spatial coordinates of targets and locations of friendly forces potentially at risk from inaccurate firing should be positively confirmed before the remote weapon platform engages the enemy. Consequently, instructions are often repeated many times in an iterative procedure as the soldier and platform attempt to resolve ambiguities. Engagement of the enemy by a remote platform may thus take minutes or longer, and in many cases communication difficulties result in complete disengagement and an inability to provide the requested fire or other support. These communications delays compromise mission success and increase casualties. In certain instances, incorrect communication of target position has resulted in fratricide.